Banjo



(No Moden.) KRASKE BANJO. 110,457,996. Patented Aug. 18,1891.

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v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VICTOR KRASKE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BANJO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 457,996, dated August18, 1891.

Application filed January l 7, l 89 l.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, VICTOR KRASKE, a subject of the Emperor of Germany,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Banjos, of which thefollowing is a specification.

It frequently happens that the neck of a banjo becomes warped to anextent to place the fret-board out of the plane it should occupyrelatively to the face of the head, and thereby render it impossible forthe player to properly finger and get the best effects from the strings.Thus if the plane of the fretboard becomes depressed or inclineddownwardly from the head the space between the strings and frets becomesso small that the strings in vibrating will strike against the frets andthereby produce a rattling sound. On the other hand, should the neckwarp so as to incline the fret-board upwardly from the head the distancebetween the strings and frets will be too great to permit the strings tobe quickly and easily depressed and held by the player upon the frets.

The foregoing objectionable relative displacement between the neck andhead or body of the instrument is also frequently incident to theputting on of a new head.

My invention relates to means for tilting the neck relatively to thebody of the instrument, so as to vary the distance between thefret-board and strings, the more prominent objects and advantages of myimprovement being the provision of simple, reliable, and efficient meansfor attaining the desired adjustment and the further provision of meansinvolving the foregoing and permitting said tilt or tilting adjustmentof the neck to be attained with ease and certainty.

To the attainment of these and other useful ends my invention consistsin matters hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a central longitudinalsection through a banjo embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail viewrepresenting on a larger scale a portion of Fig. l. Fig. 3 representsthe tail end of the banjo in elevation. Fig. 4

represents in perspective the guide and adjustable socket for the neckarm or stick.

In said drawings, A indicates the neck, B

Serial No. 378,111. (No model.)

the hoop or body, and C the head, of a banjo. As a preferredarrangement, the neck is provided at its rear or butt end with a stem,rod, or stick a, which extends across the space within the head,although, if desired, said rod or stick can be dispensed with, it beinghere observed that itis common to provide a stem or stick consisting ofa metal or wooden rod either secured to or made integral with the neck,although banjos are made and placed upon the market without suchappendage. I will Iirst, however, describe lny invention in connectionwith a banjo having a rod or stick a, either secured to or made integralwith the neck, and then point out ways in which my said invention can beused in connection with. a banjo wherein such rod or stick is absent.

The rod or stick a herein shown is at the tail end of the banjo, engagedand held by an adjustable slide or bearing D, which is adjustableperpendicularly to the plane occu pied by the fret-board, in which way,by adjusting said bearing D, the plane of the fretboard can be variedrelatively to the head. Thus by adjusting the bearing D the rod or sticka can be operated as the short arm of a lever fulcrumed at or about thepoint whereat the neck sets against the hoop or body of the instrument,and by reason of the length of the neck and the distance of the nut E,whereon the strings rest, from the head a slight adjustment of the neck,and consequently of t-he fret-board, will produce considerable variationin the extent of space between the fret-board and strings F.

As a means for adjusting the bearing D, I` provide an adj Listing-screwG, which exextends through and engages a threaded bore in the bearing,as best shown in Fig. 2. The bearing is held against turning by a guideH, which is secured to the body of the instrument and also convenientlyadapted to provide bearings 7L and h for the upper and lower endportions of the adjusting-screw. Said guide II may, for example,resemble a rectangular frame, whereof the ends provide bearings for theadjustingscrew, while the space between the inner walls of its sides h2provides a guide-way for the back portion d of the adjustable bearing.One end of the screwT is available to a screw-driver or other suitabletool in the hands of the user, or it IOO can be provided with a handlesimilar to a thumb-nut. By turning the screw the bearing can be adjustedup and down within the guideway like a slide-nut and will obviously beiirmly held in its adjustment.

The guide II can set up against the inner wall of the hoop or body ofthe instrument, and as a simple mode of holding it in place I unite itstwo sides at the rear by a crosspiece h3, and form with or secure tosaid cross-piece a neek h4, which lits through an opening in the hoop orbody of the banjo and provides a bearing for a clamp-screw I. Theclamp-screw is adapted to be set up against the outer side of the hoopor body B, and by tightening it up the said hoop or body can be firmlyclamped between the guide I-I and screw I.

The rod or stick ct can be secured to the neck in any known or suitableway, or it can be made integral therewith and provided with an openingor socket for a wedge K, herein arranged to engage in said opening andbind against the inner side of the hoop or body of the banjo.

I have herein shown the slide or bearing D made separat-e from the sticka mainly for the reason that a wooden stick is preferable. In applyinginy invention, however, to a banjo having a metal stick the bearing Dcould of course be made integral with the stick, if so desired, it beingunderstood that, broadly considered, my invention involves as aprominent :feature of improvement the rear end of the stick or stemconnected with the body of the instrument, but adjustable perpendicularto the plane of the parchment head, in which way said stick serves asthe arm of a lever,

- which can be readily tilted and adjusted in any suitable way, so as toplace its rear end nearer to or farther away from the parchment head inaccordance with the extent to which the neck is to be tiltedindependently of the body, and that as a further prominent feature ofimprovement I tilt the neck by an adjusting-screw arranged perpendicularor substantially perpendicular to the plane of the head and fret-board,thereby attaining sufiicient leverage to permit the adjustment to beeasily made.

Vhat I claim as my invention is- I. The combination, substantially ashereinbefore set forth, in a banjo, of the banjobody, the neck, and arod or stick extending from the neck back through the space within thebody of the instrument and having its rear end, which is connected withthe body of the instrument, adjustable in a direction perpendicular tothe plane ot the parchment head, for the purpose described.

The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, in a banjo, ofthe banjobody, the neck, and an adjustingscrew applied for tilting theneck independently of the body of the instrument and arranged sub-Stantally perpendicular to the plane of the parchment head andfret-board, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbet'ore set forth, in abanjo, of the banjobody, the neck, a rod or stick extending from theneck back through the space within the body of the instrument, and anadjustingscrew engaging a threaded bearing on the rod or stick, in orderthat by operating said screw the neck can be tilted, for the purposedescribed.

4. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, in a banjo,of the neck, the rod or stick extending from the neck back through thespace Within the body of the instrument, an adj Listing-screw engaging athreaded bearing on the rod or stick, and a guide for steadying saidbearing.

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, in a banjo,of the neck, the rod or stem, a bearing D on the rod or stem, a guide IIfor the bearing, and an adj Listing-screw engaging the bearing.

(i. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, in abanjo, of the neck, the rod or stem extending back i rom vthe neck, abearingD on the rod or stem, a guide II for the bearing, an adjlisting-screw engaging' the bearing, a neck h4, extending from the guidethrough the body ot' the instrument, and a screw for engaging in theneck h", for the purpose described.

7. The combination of the banjo-body, the neck, the rod or stemextending back from the neck and adjustably held at the tail end of thebanjo, and a wedge fitted within an opening in the rod or stem at apoint to permit it to bind against the inner side ot' the banjo-bodyadjacent to the point whereat the rod or stem passes through the same.

VIC/"OR KRASKE.

Witnesses:

CHAs. G. PAGE, RETA M. WAGNER.

